


Viridescent Shadows 2: The Nightmarish Nine

by DaringDanger



Series: The Huld Codices [3]
Category: Hilda (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Mystery, Origin Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22890064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaringDanger/pseuds/DaringDanger
Summary: Kelly inquires as to the past of her friend, and finds out more than she expected. What is the origin of the Marra?
Series: The Huld Codices [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1453858
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. The Prime With Pigtails

(cover by dishwashersafemusic on Tumblr)

Viridescent Shadows II: The Nightmarish Nine

By Daring D.D. Danger  
Phase One: The Prime With Pigtails

**Trolberg, Present Day**

“So, you destroyed Trolberg once?” Kelly asked.

“Part of it. It’s not going to happen again. Maven sealed all the dark magic she knew, including the spell to stabilize the curses, in a tome and died with the spell to open it again.” It was still snowing as I told Kelly about the witch hunts, and about my friends, Eunice and Alma. The roof of the Trolberg library had a centimeter or so of snow, glistening in the city lights.

“Did you ever find out what Alma told Eunice that night? Or why she could summon blades from her arms? Wouldn’t it be cool if we could summon blades from our arms?” Kelly begged.

“I did. I also told you Marra can’t do a lot of the things Alma could.” I said.

“Then what was she?” Kelly perplexed.

“She’d probably have said she was cursed. At least that’s how I feel about it.” As I said this I summoned my sword blade from my left arm and pointed in the air briefly before letting it fade. Kelly was left speechless.

**Trolberg, 1739**

The haunting green pyre of the Marra firepit was illuminating its clearing of the Huldrawood once again, burning just below the canopy of the trees surrounding it. The leaves rustled as Patience landed next to her friend Lucia. Patience had been a Marra for about a decade now, a small dark skinned girl. We’d made her a Marra mostly because Eunice and I had been alone as the twin Marra of Trolberg for almost one hundred years. Lucia had only been a Marra for about four years- she had pale skin and deep blue eyes. She was homeless and more or less sought out being a Marra herself based on rumors she’d heard about nightmare spirits. I let out a sigh as it became apparent Eunice would miss the bonfire again.

“Where’s Eunice been?” Lucia asked me.

“I’m not sure where she is, but I know why she’s avoiding us." I said. “Remember what we told you about consuming fear?”

“We need to consume fear to survive.” Lucia replied.

“Not consuming fear is the only way I know of for a Marra to die, aside from magic combined with that stupid belt thing. When Marra get old sometimes they just get tired of being a Marra. Eunice has been talking about it since not long after you became a Marra, Lucia.” The part I didn’t want to tell them was that I knew when Eunice would go. Tomorrow is the same date Alma died, way back in the 1640s.

The fire was short lived, as we’d been subsisting on one nightmare a Marra, unlike back when I first started giving nightmares. Eunice and I figured out quality over quantity actually generated more sustainable fear. On this night I’d used one of the classics on some kid, the witch biting your head off dream. Eunice never grew tired of that nightmare. I sent the other girls away and laid down on the ground, waiting for sunrise.

A figure in a hood entered the clearing as daylight filled the Huldrawood.

“I knew you’d be here." I said.

“Same to you.” Eunice threw off her cloak. She was covered in green lines, just as Alma had been.

“Is this the part where you tell me what Alma told you?” I asked.

“Indeed, Christabella.” I shot her a dirty look for using my former name. “I’m the last being on the planet who knows you by that name. You got your weird wish to have no name, but it’s how I know you.”

“Fine.” I said.

“How long do you plan on being a Marra?” She asked.

“Not sure. I told Maven I’d wait to see her library finished.”

“Ah, the witch. It’s interesting to me you’ve never spoken with her daughter.”

“Maven told me it’d be safer if future witches did not interact with me.”

“Interesting. Well, I need to get on with this part, or we’ll be in trouble.” Eunice said. “Remember all that weird shit Alma could do?”

“Like conjuring fire?” I asked.

“Exactly, let me show you why.” Suddenly a green fire grew in Eunice’s hand, and then she directed it onto the ground, drawing a circle. Suddenly nine fires spurted up within the circle forming their own circle, then green lines connected all of the little fires into a nine pointed star.

“Is this like a pentagram?” I asked.

“Technically, it’s an enneagram.” Eunice replied. She then snapped her fingers causing a tenth flame, this one purple, to form in the center of the enneagram. I looked closer and noticed some characters glowing around the flames.

“They’re in some forgotten language. The nine green flames say Alma, Alice, Cicily, Estrid, Beatrice, Gemma, Ivett, Sibyl, and Eva. The one in the center says ‘Huld’.

“This makes no sense to me at all, Eunice.” I said bluntly

“The nine green flames represent the Marra who survived killing Huld. Alma called them the nightmarish nine. When they killed Huld, they read through her texts and discovered she’d made herself more or less immortal using dark magic. If she’s killed, her soul will soon leave her body and possess another witch's body. The girls prevented it using Huld’s own spells, they each absorbed a portion of her soul into theirs. If one of these prime Marra dies, their soul will seek out a new host for Huld, however it can be prevented by passing the soul to another Marra before death, using the enneagram spell.”

“I know where you are going with this, Eunice.” I said nervously.

“You need to take Huld’s soul fragment and become one of the nightmarish nine." Eunice said.

“I don’t want this!” I said.

“The enneagram spell also lets us check to see if Huld’s soul is still broken up! That’s what the nine flames are, Christabella! No Marra has ever failed to pass this responsibility on! I don’t want to be the reason Alma’s flame goes out!” Eunice bellows.

“F-fine.” I said.

“Step into the circle," Eunice said. I moved inside of the ring, the purple flame at my feet. Eunice then stepped in as well, there was almost no space between us.

“How does this work?” I asked.

“Just shut up.” Eunice says as she suddenly kisses me. I was suddenly in agony as it felt likeshe breathed fire into my throat. I pushed myself back from her and fell backwards. The enneagram had gone out entirely.

“Pass that on before you die, it’s Alma’s last wish.” Eunice laid down on the ground. “I got that done just in time.” She smiled and faded away into ashes. I couldn’t move, or even make a sound.

**Trolberg, Present Day**

“So that makes you one of those prime Marra things?” Kelly asked.

“Yes.”

“You can do that enneagram thing then?”

“Yes, but, things are a bit different now.”

“How so?” Kelly asked.

“I’ll have to tell you what happened to Patience, Lucia, myself, and the two weirdest Marra I’ve ever known.”

To Be Continued in Phase Two: The Quintet of Terror


	2. The Quintet Of Terror

Viridescent Shadows II: The Nightmarish Nine

By Daring D.D. Danger  
Phase Two: The Quintet Of Terror

**Trolberg, 1929**

“Turn the radio up! That supernatural show should be on!” Renata said as the car rounded a corner.

“So, you claim there’s 5 teenage girls giving you nightmares?” The host said over the static-filled radio.

“Yes!” cried the man. All five of us were now intently listening as Lucia drove.

“How did you find out about this if you were sleeping?” The host asked.

“I heard a legend about a creature who trades secrets, and it told me.”

“And what was this creature?”

“It’s in the sewers! It’s a Rat King, but it talks!” Suddenly everyone in the car was laughing.

“Wait, girls. That guydid know there were five of us.” said Omelia.

“Omelia, you cannot possibly believe in the Rat King." Patience said.

“What if it exists, though? People might be trading their fears for other secrets!” Omelia suggested. I suddenly smiled.

“Lucia, turn the car around.” I said.

“We’re not going to find the Rat King, are we?” Lucia groaned.

“We’re going to find the Rat King!” I announced.

“Dammit." Lucia grumbled as the car turned around.

**Trolberg, Present Day**

“Wait, you called Omelia and Renata the weirdest Marra you’ve ever met, right? Why?” Kelly asked.

“Kelly, I like telling this story. Don’t interrupt." I said.

“No, you need to tell me about them.” Kelly said.

“Fine, I’ll come back to the Rat King. The reason they were weird was more to do with how they became Marras.” I said.

**Trolberg, 1890**

“-and that was when I swooped down and-” Suddenly a gunshot went off, interrupting Lucia’s story.

“Hold on, everyone shut up, and put the fire out! That was close by.” I said as I took cover behind a tree. The green glow of the fire faded from the side of my vision.

“Hey, can you guys hear footsteps?” Patience whispered. I definitely could once I focused on it.

“Damn, they’re coming towards the camp.” I whispered back. The footsteps grew until two figures burst into the clearing. One of them threw the other down on the ground.

“Nightmare spirits! Are you here?” One of the figures, a girl, yelled. I put on my scariest Marra face and floated into the clearing.

“What do you want, kid?” I asked in a low voice. She flipped onto her back.

“I-I heard there were nightmare spirits… in the Huldrawood...” She stammered.

“And?” I asked as I allowed myself to rotate so I was upside down.

“Make us nightmare spirits!” She finally said. I conjured a small flame on my fingers and threw it into the pit. The bonfire exploded back to life.

“You want to be a nightmare spirit?” I asked. “Spirit means you die. You know that, right?

“We should make them Marras just for ruining our bonfire.” Lucia said, coming out of the shadows. I flew into the girl's face.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Renata."she replied.

“Why do you want to be a nightmare spirit?” I asked.

“Revenge." she said.

“Well, I like that.” I said to myself.

“They’re trying to kill my sister, and me, because I was protecting her.” Renata said. Patience appeared and picked up Renata’s unconscious sister.

“This one got really beat up.” The girl was covered in bruises and other injuries. “What’d she do?” Patience asked.

“Well-” Renata started.

“Wait! You said sister, but this is a boy." Patience noted.

“That’s why we ended up here. Her name is Omelia, but she wasn’t born as a girl.” Renata said.

“What?” Lucia puzzled.

“We’re twins. She told me in secret when we were kids. And she finally told our parents.”

“I take it that didn’t go well.” I noted.

“No, they tried to ‘beat some sense’ into her, so when they looked away I took her and ran.” Renata said.

“So your parents shot at you?” Lucia asked.

“Yes, and yelled that they’d come looking for us.” Renata said.

“That’s the strangest thing I’ve ever heard.” Lucia said.

“Well, even if we understand, there’s a problem...” Patience began

“What?” Renata asked.

“Only girls can become Marras.” I said.

“She’s a girl on the inside!” Renata begged.

“I don’t think that’s how it works for this.” Lucia shrugged.

“Do we know that?” Patience said.

“I’m not sure, I only know that rule because Eunice told me once.” I said. “I mean, if Omelia says she’s a girl, then why can’t we try to turn her into a Marra?” I asked. Everyone stared at me.

**Trolberg, Present Day**

“So you turned a transgender woman into a Marra, then?” Kelly remarked.

“We did. Although none of us had ever heard of someone being trans before that day." I said.

“So, can boys become Marras?” Kelly asked.

“No. We tried that a few times after Omelia. They all got ill instead of absorbing the fear.”

“So what’s that mean?” Kelly asked.

“Exactly what Renata said. Omelia was a girl.” I shrugged.

“Why have you never told any of us about that?” Kelly asked angrily.

“I told you, the past is something I don’t talk about. If any of you really wanted to recruit a trans person I would’ve just told you it would work. We also don’t need more Marra to feed in this town.” A bit of silence passed. “Can I finish the Rat King story?” I asked, to which Kelly nodded.

**Trolberg, 1929**

“Is there any way I do not need to enter the sewer?" Patience asked me.

“Sure. You can watch the car." I said. The remaining four of us entered the maw of the Trolberg sewers.

About an hour passed before Renata grabbed my shoulder.

“I’m gonna go back to the car.” she told me.

“I’m going as well." Lucia said.

“Well, Omelia, it’s you and me.” I said to the enthusiastic girl.

Another hour or so passed when Omelia called for me.

“What is it?” I asked. She pointed at a bizarre crack in the wall. We zipped through in our wisp forms and reformed in a square room. We walked to the other side where a small amount of light was breaking through from the surface.

“Well, Omelia, this was a bust.” I said, but Omelia didn’t respond. “Omelia?” I turned and she was looking back at the wall we entered. For a second it looked normal, until I noticed the eyes. Thousands of rat eyes peering through us.

“Hello, nightmare spirits." thousands of little voices said simultaneously as I shivered for the first time in years. “Are you here for secrets?”

“Y-yes.” Omelia replied.

“Come forward, then.” The rat king said. Omelia stepped up to the mass of rats and they all leaned in to be right in front of her face. The rats whispered something to her, and she replied back. The rats reeled back.

“Oooo! That’s a good one!” The rats almost looked as if they were smiling.

“What about me?” I asked.

“We already have something for you.” the rats said.

“Do I need to give you a secret?”

“You can pay us back later." the Rat King said. “For now, we suggest you check the spell.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The Enneagram spell, Christabella!” The rats snickered as they filtered out of the hole in the wall.

“Christabella? Is that y-” I shoved my hand over Omelia’s mouth.

“Never speak that name again.” I said, angrily. “Go back to the car.”

“Why?” Omelia said.

“Go back to the car!” I yelled while conjuring both of my blades. Omelia left silently. I snapped a flame to life on the end of my pointer finger and drew a circle on the ground. The first three fires flamed to life but the fourth never came. One of the three fires was much larger than the other two. The lines formed between them, a triangle. I snapped my fingers together to spawn Huld’s flame in the center.

“What the hell happened?” I muttered to myself. The text around the larger flame was distorted and no longer could be read. The other two read ‘Sibyl’ and ‘Alma’.

To Be Continued In Phase 3: Ghosts In The Mirror


	3. Ghosts In The Mirror

Viridescent Shadows II: The Nightmarish Nine

By Daring D.D. Danger  
Phase Three: Ghosts In The Mirror

**Trolberg, Present Day**

“Why did the spell only have three names? And what made Sibyl and Alma so special?” Kelly asked.

“Well, I can get to why the names were messed up, but honestly, I only knew Alma briefly, and she said she was the last of the Nightmarish Nine. I suppose only she could’ve told us about Sibyl.” I trailed off.

**Somewhere in the United Kingdom, 1349**

“Alma!” A girl screamed as she gently kicked me awake. “You don’t even have to sleep anymore, Alma." she said jokingly. I’d only been a Marra for a few weeks- sleep seemed nice to me still.

“What do you want, Sibyl?” I asked.

“Huld gave us something to do, of course.” she said.

“What’s the point of getting to live a second time if I have to work seven days a week for Huld, anyway?” I muttered.

“It’s an assassination." Sibyl said.

“Okay, I’m in.” I hopped up and slid my shirt back on over my bandages. “Do these ever heal, Sibyl?”

“Not that I know of.” Sibyl held up her hand and removed a glove, showing me how gangrenous it was.

We took to the stone streets of the most plague ridden parts of town. Dead bodies frequently lined the streets still, and houses had X’s painted on their doors.

“Another corrupt noble, I assume?” I asked Sibyl.

“It’s insane that you can just hide from the plague if you are rich enough.” Sibyl said quietly. She was often chosen for assassinations of nobles because she had a bit of a vendetta against them, and also because she was one of the strongest of Huld’s army.

“Are we doing the Sibyl usual?” I asked.

“Absolutely.” she replied, cracking an evil smile. The pair of us entered our wisp forms and began speeding along the alleyways of town, eventually stopping outside of the manor, makeshift walls now separating its inhabitants from the ill.

“We should reserve the remainder of our power in case we need to fight.” I suggested.

“We won’t need to, though. I’m a professional.” Sibyl bragged. I hopped on the wall and climbed like a spider as Sibyl used a bit of power to jump over. Sibyl couldn’t climb walls due to how fragile her hands were. There were guards closer to the home, near the door.

“We can’t take them out. We need to leave no trace to guarantee the usual plan works.” Sibyl whisper-yelled at me. “We’ll look for an open window or keyhole in the back. We can hide in the shrubbery.” We crawled through the plants to the back of the home and Sibyl pointed out a small open window. We entered our wisp forms and entered the home.

“You smell food too, Alma?” Sibyl asked as we reformed in some sort of storeroom. I could smell it. We were close to the kitchen. I nodded. Sibyl put her head against the door the smell was coming from.

“No one is in there. This is too easy.” She opened the door and approached the cooking food.

“Sibyl usual?” I asked.

“Sibyl usual."she confirmed, removing the glove from her right hand. Her bones creaked as she retracted all but her pointer finger, and dipped it in one of the dishes. She then licked her hand clean and returned her glove. Sibyl had a lot of power as it was, but one of her more unique abilities was to be able to pass the plague with her bare hands.

“We need to get back and claim our payment before Huld leaves.” Sibyl said.

“I didn’t know Huld was leaving. What’s the occasion?" I asked.

“She didn’t say, but it sounds like it’ll be like 12 hours.” Sibyl explained before we made our escape.

The trip back to the camp seemed short. We were in line to see Huld no more than half an hour after leaving the villa.

“-and that’s when he was covered in rats. They flowed like water, dragging him into the deep.” The Marra girl ahead of us finished recounting a nightmare she’d given.

“Very good.” Huld said in her raspy voice. She leaned into her magical fire and scooped some out with her stained black hand. It then leaped into the mouth of the Marra girl, who glowed green briefly before leaving.

“Ah, Sibyl, and… new girl.” Huld greeted us. Her face was wrapped as always, save for her sickly purple eyes.

“Huld, our assassination was successful. We were not detected, and we used my power to spread the disease. They’ll never know what hit them." Sibyl said as if she were giving a speech to a large group of people. Huld reached into the purple flames once more, producing a handful for Sibyl, and then one for me. The fire slid down my throat like lava, but the feeling of it spreading through my veins was euphoric.

“I gave you both a little extra, since you’re one of my favorites, Sibyl.” Huld said. We then exited her home and returned to the Marra camp, bustling with the ranks of almost all of Huld’s army.

“Stay awake tonight. We’re having a gathering.” Sibyl said as we walked.

“Gathering?” I puzzled.

“Every Marra is going to be in attendance tonight. All 114 of us. It doesn’t happen often.” Sibyl said. I thought about it as we went our separate ways, a Marra gathering sounded interesting, but sleep was my true best friend.

I woke suddenly to a sound, a whistle. Sibyl burst into my room. “I knew you’d be sleeping.” she grimaced. I got out of bed and entered the camp. A large fire was burning and two Marra were floating over it, Eva and Cicily. Along with Sibyl they were regarded as the highest ranking members of the army. Cicily was very well educated- she’d been a noble prior to the plague taking her, and Eva was incredibly strong.

“I got the straggler." Sibyl pushed me into the crowd. “Okay, so we all know Huld is going to be out for a few hours, and the three of us thought it was time to enact something we’ve been planning for a few months: killing Huld.” Sibyl’s words started an audible wave of doubt through the crowd.

“Huld uses us as slaves. We do her dirty work and she extends our lives for a few days with her fire.” Eva adds.

“We can’t possibly kill Huld!” Someone shouts.

“There’s over a hundred of us, there’s only one of her. She can’t stop all of us. If we don’t do this, she’ll keep doing whatever the hell she is doing in secret, and frankly it’s probably using us to take over the world for her." Sibyl said. “It’s simple. We wait for her to return and do an all out attack.”

“We need her to keep us alive.” Someone else says.

“We only seem to need the fire. As long as it’s lit, we can figure it out.” Cicily adjusts her glasses. The Marra of the crowd were murmuring, seemingly in agreement.

“Alright, then! Tomorrow, we kill Huld!” Eva yelled.

To Be Continued in Phase Four: Alma


	4. Alma

Viridescent Shadows II: The Nightmarish Nine

By Daring D.D. Danger  
Phase Four: Alma

**Somewhere in the United Kingdom, 1349**

The wind seemed to have died as the sun crested over the Huldrawood. Almost one hundred of us were standing in front of Huld’s home, another few were in hiding. I looked at the blades coming out of my arms, illuminating the dirt where Huld’s army was born. The fire pit in the center of camp turned purple and began spinning like a tornado, revealing the witch Huld at its center. She stepped out of the fire, her robe covering everything but her purple eyes.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Huld projected with her raspy voice.

“This is the day the Marra become free, Huld.” Sibyl was floating above the main group, one hand behind her, holding back 8 of her psychic blades.

“The Marra will never be free. You need me to survive.” Huld said harshly.

“This is also the day the Marra free the world from you.” Sibyl said in a low voice.

“So, you’ve chosen the bloody path.” Huld threw off her cloak, revealing her skin stained by her own dark magic, and long white hair, matching her aged appearance. She reached into the fire and surrounded herself in an unearthly glow, as if her entire body were a hot coal. She whispered something before pointing her hand at the main group. Suddenly a jet of violet flame burst from her and into the crowd to my left. When we looked back, an entire column of us had been reduced to ashes. A gasp went through the crowd.

“Try that again!” Suddenly a Marra wisp shot from a tree and impacted Huld directly in the face.

“Get out of my head, you insolent child!” Huld was reeling and covering her eyes.

“Now!” Sibyl shouted. Marra wisps went in every direction as I ran up. A girl punched Huld in the face, and Huld turned and vaporized her on the spot. Could we really win? I reached Huld and stabbed with my left hand, my blade piercing Huld’s side. She grabbed the blade and broke it as the Marra wisp from earlier shot out of her head. Huld locked eyes with me and threw a punch that I narrowly dodged. Another girl came to my side wielding a ball and chain, forcing Huld to deal with both of us as she took several ranged attacks. She dodged the two of us as she sent out several blasts at the Marra attacking her from range. Suddenly, Eva entered from our side and grabbed Huld. Eva was glowing green like she herself was an ember as she took a leap with Huld in her arms. I took the respite to look behind me- there were less than 50 Marra left, it seemed. Suddenly, Eva slammed into the ground on top of Huld, creating a crater. I dove into the crater with the girl next to me as Eva backed out, and I stabbed Huld in the eye. Everything stopped as her good eye locked with mine. A blast blew me into the air along with the other girl. As I flew, I saw a Marra with forest green hair holding up some kind of barrier, and another girl behind her holding a scythe, and the rest of us were blown back. As we landed, Huld unleashed another round of blasts. One came directly for me and I closed my eyes.

“Move!” A voice shouted from behind me. I opened my eyes to see a girl shooting lightning from her arms, stopping Huld’s blast in its tracks. They were both using all their might to hit the other. I moved and ran up to the green haired girl’s barrier.

“Arm swords! Charge Huld now!” She yelled. Without thinking, I ran up to Huld, still focusing on the lightning blast. I swung and met her right hand, which grabbed my blade, causing Huld’s blood to spray from it.

“Beatrice!” The green haired girl yelled. Huld finally repulsed the lightning blast as a girl boasting an extra two ghostly green arms came in and laid down multiple hits to Huld’s stomach. Huld threw me by my blade back behind the barrier. I could stand up no more as I watched the green haired girl place a barrier above her head. The girl with the scythe jumped into the air as I passed out.

“Alma!” I awoke to being kicked.

“What, Sibyl?” I said before recalling what had transpired. My head spun as I came to a sitting position. I looked to my right and saw Eva holding another girl. The girl began turning to ash as Eva screamed some curse to the heavens.

“I’ve got a survivor!” Sibyl called out. I looked over to where she screamed, and saw the green haired Marra waving back. Sibyl’s hand reached for me and I took it, pulling myself up, and that’s when I finally got a good look at Sibyl.

“Sibyl! Your arm!” I realized Sibyl was missing her entire left arm.

“I’m right handed, anyway.” she told me.

“What happened?” I asked.

“We killed her.” Sibyl said sternly, pointing back to the Marra who’d wielded the scythe. She was spinning her staff when I realized she had Huld’s head mounted on one end.

“How are the others?” I asked.

“Well…. uh...”

“Spit it out!” I demanded.

“You’re the fifth survivor we know of.” Sibyl said.

“Fifth!” I asked in shock. “How!”

“Huld killed most of us, but a lot had no power left to stay alive after the fight, either. You got knocked out." Sibyl explained as she walked me over to the others. “Alma, the one with the scythe is Alice, the green haired one is Gemma.”

“You’re the one with the barriers, right?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s my ability.” Gemma smiled as if proud of herself.

“We owe this to her." Alice said. “Her barriers let me get the jump on Huld to behead her.”

“How on Earth did you manage that anyway?” I asked.

“Oh you haven’t even seen anything yet.” Alice took Huld’s head off her staff and kicked it away, getting a little blood on her shoes. She took the staff in her hands and her eyes turned green, a blade of energy came out of the top. She immediately spun the staff and threw it, at which point it eventually turned around and came back to her hand. “I can tell you’re impressed." she bragged.

“You’re using all your energy, dummy.” Sibyl said.

“I’ve got survivors!” Eva suddenly yelled. I looked and recognized both immediately. The girl with the ball and chain, and the girl with the extra arms- Beatrice, I believed. I went over to greet them.

“I’m glad you’re alive!” I said.

“Oh, you’re the arm swords girl.” said the girl with the chain around her arm.

“Alma.” I said.

“Estrid." she replied.

“I’m Beatrice.” said the other girl whom I realized was missing her right eye. “Sorry,” she said, covering her eye socket. “I actually lost the eye a while ago. I normally wear a cover over it because it’s kind of gross.” she giggled a little.

“Girls!” Sibyl called. We went over to see her. She was holding Huld’s book.

“What’s that for?” I asked.

“We could use it to help us.. except I don’t know how to read." Sibyl said. “Do any of you?” She looked to the six of us, the others were shaking their heads, as well as myself.

“Cicily could read. Dammit.” Sibyl grumbled.

“Good thing you didn’t check too hard to see if I was dead.” We turned to see Cicily dragging herself and another girl towards us.

“You’re alive!” Eva cheered, hugging her comparably tiny friend.

“When Huld shot me out of her... I think I had to walk a kilometer back here.” Cicily complained.

“So you were the one blinding her?” I asked.

“Sort of. I call my power Waking Nightmare. In addition to being able to alter the subconscious mind, I can also affect the conscious mind, via hallucinations and other false information.” she explained. “Anyway, this one looks like she took a blast from Huld and lived.” Cicily flipped the girl she’d carried over. She was covered in black marks and burns.

“She’s the lightning girl!” I suddenly realized. “She saved me.” I went on my knees next to her.

“I’ve only heard of one of us being able to control lightning. Her name is Ivett.” Cicily said. “I suggest we all take a rest while I read Huld’s book, and we'll figure out the path forward once I’m done.” She grabbed the book and disappeared.

To Be Continued in Phase Five: One Final Act


	5. One Final Act

Viridescent Shadows II: The Nightmarish Nine

By Daring D.D. Danger  
Phase Five: One Final Act

**Somewhere in the United Kingdom, 1349**

A small fire was crackling in the center of camp. Everyone was in silence as we waited for Cicily. Ivett was now awake, but incredibly out of it. I looked at my hand and noted that green lines were already forming on my skin. None of us had long to live.

“Girls!” I turned to see Cicily running. She tripped near the fire, and then regained her composure. “I have some news!” She said.

“Is any of it good?” Alice asked in a voice laced with sarcasm.

“No.” Cicily said in a down voice. “Marra were specifically designed by Huld to be unable to control the fire. Thus we had to be her slaves to survive.”

“So, we’re dead, then." Eva said.

“Most likely, but most importantly, we’re not done fighting Huld yet.” Cicily explained.

“I cut her head off. How is she still fighting?” Alice said.

“'I have figured out how to make myself immortal, by using the souls gathered by my Marra. I’ve created a spell which will allow my soul to seek out a new witch to take over, whenever my current body dies.'” Cicily finished reading the passage.

“So you’re telling me this was for nothing?!” Sibyl exclaimed.

“No, not yet. I went through Huld’s spells and found out she had a spell to destroy souls as well. It was part of how she created us.” Cicily continued.

“Wouldn’t we need a witch to do the spell?” I puzzled.

“Good thing we might have one available. According to Huld ‘it appears magic in humans manifests through abnormal pigmentation of the hair or eyes, such as my blue hair.’” As Cicily spoke all eyes fell on Gemma’s forest green hair.

“Am I a witch?” Gemma asked.

“If Huld was correct, yes.” Cicily said. “Upon doing further reading, I suspect she may not be strong enough to do it however, at least without some sort of magical catalyst.”

“Where do we find that?” Beatrice asked.

“It’s the other 8 of us. We’re magic. I modified the spell a bit so all of us would be in the spell circle with Gemma, connected to her. Since there’s nine of us, I call it the Enneagram Spell.”

“When can we do it?” Eva asked with the fire returning to her eyes.

“I can go plot out the lines for the spell circle in the clearing." Cicily said. “Drag Huld’s body over as well.” Eva and Alice grabbed Huld as Cicily ran ahead.

We arrived with Huld as Cicily drew the beginnings of a star on the ground. I touched some of the powder on the ground, it was coarse.

“What is this, Cicily?” I asked.

“I don’t really know. Huld has it labeled as ‘spell circle powder’!” She yelled as she scattered more powder. “Put Huld in the middle! Try not to break the lines!” She ordered. We threw Huld in the middle, and Alice kicked her head in from outside the circle like some sort of game.

“Everyone go to the tip of the star I wrote your name by.” Cicily instructed. I walked around the circle before stumbling on a point labeled Alma. Alice stood on one side of me, Eva on the other. I locked eyes with a dubious Eva as Cicily ran to Gemma, waving her arms and pointing at Huld’s book. Cicily then ran off and returned rapidly with a lit torch.

“What’s that for?” I asked.

“For this!” Cicily threw the torch onto Huld’s corpse and it slowly caught on fire.

“Was that part of your spell?” Sibyl asked.

“No! But it was really satisfying.” Cicily took her point of the star. “Now, Gemma!” Cicily yelled. Gemma began chanting something in a low voice I couldn’t make out, her hair seemed more vibrant as I watched. Suddenly, the outer circle of the spell came alight in a wave of violet. Gemma’s eyes turned green and she began hovering- I’m not sure if by choice. The purple light was now spreading from Gemma’s tip of the star like an infection. I became overwhelmed with the sensation to take to the air myself and gave in. I looked at my hands, the cracks spreading across my skin and crawling under my bandages.

Huld suddenly burst into violet flames, a tower of light reaching for the sky. A burst of wind spread out nearly knocking all of us back.

“Her soul is fighting back somehow! If we break the circle now she’ll reincarnate!” Cicily yelled as Gemma began screaming.

“I’m not letting you go now! Not after all my friends died killing you!” As Eva screamed a pulse came from Huld.

“I will never cause another nightmare for your gain!” Cicily screamed.

“I refuse to fight in your stead!” Alice bellowed.

“I am no longer your shield!” Gemma screamed through her pain.

“You will never tie me down and use my lightning as a catalyst!” Ivett said in a low angry tone.

“I will never let someone beat me within an inch of my life again!” Estrid exclaimed.

“No one will ever live in fear of you again!” Beatrice gritted her teeth so hard they might’ve cracked.

“I’m not going to spread the disease like some rat!” A gust of wind blew out from Huld again as Sibyl projected her anger.

“I am no one’s slave!” I yelled into the pyre.

Suddenly the fire turned and unearthly green, which rippled out replacing the violet in the spell circle. Nine tails of green fire spread from the towering flame, one darted into my mouth spreading through my body filling me with both agony and pleasure. As I felt I would explode, everything faded to black.

**Somewhere in the United Kingdom, One Day After Huld’s Defeat**

My ears rang as I stood up. How much time had passed? And what even happened? I looked at my hands, now free of the glowing lines which signaled a Marra’s demise. I walked over to Huld’s home and found the others sitting inside.

“There you are.” Sibyl said. “Figured I’d let you sleep this time.” She shrugged.

“Did we beat Huld?” I asked.

“Sort of.” Cicily said. “My running theory is that we may have instead… absorbed Huld.”

“We did what!?” I asked, alarmed.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Marra technically don’t have souls, according to Huld’s book. So I think what happened is Gemma wasn’t strong enough to erase Huld’s soul. It attempted to find the nearest witch, which was Gemma, and as a result of us being connected we split Huld’s soul nine ways.”

“That doesn’t make me more comfortable.” I replied.

“Hey. Snap your fingers.” Sibyl said.

“What?” I asked.

“Just do it.” I did as she instructed and a small green flame ignited on my hand.

“What?” I was amazed and still terrified.

“I think that is another side effect of our spell backfiring. Apparently we can control fire now.” Cicily said, stating the obvious. “I need to do a little more research in Huld’s library. We’ll need to know what happens when we die.” Cicily vanished into another room.

To Be Continued In Phase Six: The Shadow Is Cast


	6. The Shadow Is Cast

Viridescent Shadows II: The Nightmarish Nine

By Daring D.D. Danger  
Phase Six: The Shadow Is Cast

**Somewhere in the United Kingdom, two days after Huld’s defeat**

Alice flew into the camp where the majority of us sat. Eva followed shortly behind.

“Where’d you two run off to?” Sibyl asked, not getting up from her lying down position.

“We killed a guy." Eva shrugged.

“I killed a guy.” Alice corrected.

“You know, we don’t have to kill anymore. At least, I don’t think we do.” I complained.

“Whatever, new girl.” Eva shot an evil glance.

“At least tell us about it.” Ivett noted.

“Let me start the fire, for the atmosphere." Sibyl snorted as she flicked a green flame into the fire pit.

“So, we were stalking this guy through an alley. Eva and I were crawling on the walls like spiders." Alice was enacting the story with hand motions as she spoke, truly invested in it.

“After a while, he started looking back, knowing he was being watched, but we were too fast. Eventually, Eva made a noise that made him turn around, and when he turned back forward, I was in his face!He screamed, and I cut his head off!” Alice began cackling as Sibyl’s fire suddenly grew. Everyone turned around as several flames jumped from the fire like snakes. One of them went into my throat and sent a rush of heat through my body. I turned in time to see everyone had glowing Marra eyes, as we looked at each other, completely speechless.

“Girls!” Cicily’s voice broke the silence. “Look what I found!” She held up one of Huld’s books, and tripped, dropping the book, and her face, to the ground. The rest of us were still recovering.

“You look like someone died." Cicily said as she stood back up.

“The fire.” Gemma said quietly.

“What about it?” Cicily asked.

“Alice was telling us about how she killed someone.” Ivett said.

“We absorbed some of the fire when I finished.” Alice said, completing the sentence for Ivett.

“You did what!?” Cicily jumped, abandoning the book entirely. “Don’t you know what this means!?” She screamed.

“No, not really.” Eva said.

“We can feed ourselves now, you idiots!” Cicily said, half joking.

“Does this mean we have to kill people?” Gemma asked.

“I don’t think so. I think, based on what Huld wrote about Marra, we just need to create fear.”

“I think the best way to do that without causing harm is nightmares.” Estrid spoke up.

“Why does it need to be harmless?” Eva asked.

“We just sacrificed hundreds of Marra to not have to kill people anymore!” I said angrily.

“We killed her, so we didn’t have to kill for her. I’m a spirit.Why can’t I have fun?” As Eva said this, Alice took a spot behind her and held her shoulder.

“Can we at least try the nightmare thing?” Estrid asked.

“I’ll do it." Sibyl said. “Huld never let me give nightmares because of how useful my hands were.” Sibyl cracked her fingers in front of her face.

“Fine, we’ll do it your way. The sun is going down, we’ll wait here." Eva said.

“Did you girls hear something?” Beatrice asked, interrupting the hours of silence that followed Sibyl’s departure. The rest of us shook our heads. “There was a rustling sound in the woods.”

“Probably an animal, since there’s not hundreds of us anymore, they are probably less scared.” Alice shrugged. Suddenly there was a louder sound, of something falling. Before she even realized, the eavesdropper was surrounded by seven and a half sets of glowing green Marra eyes. The girl was on the ground in the fetal position as Eva picked her up and dragged her back to the fire.

“What are we going to do with her now?” Beatrice asked.

“Let me go?” The girl begged.

“No.” several of us said.

“Who knows what she heard.” Alice said.

“Huld would just kill her.” Eva suggested.

“Killing isn’t the answer to everything.” Estrid complained.

“Just tie her down for now, we’ll wait for Sibyl to decide. I have something I need to tell you about anyways.” Cicily said. Eva took to tying the girl to one of the logs around the fire.

“So, before we were interrupted, I think I found out what happens when we die.”

“Alright, lay it on us.” Alice said.

“Most likely Huld’s soul will still seek out a host, the closest witch. But since it’s broken up, the witch wouldn’t know, unless they ended possessing multiple fragments of her soul.”

“You’re saying we need to go our separate ways.” Estrid said grimly. Sibyl returned as everyone was quiet.

“What did I miss?” Sibyl asked.

“Cicily says to keep Huld gone we need to split up, forever.” I explained.

“Oh. Well… what about that?” Sibyl pointed to the girl we tied to a log.

“Interloper, we decided to wait and see what you wanted to do with her.” Alice said.

“Let’s leave her there until tomorrow. We have more important things to focus on, clearly.”

“I do have one other thought.” Cicily said. “We could use the Enneagram Spell to pass the soul fragments to a new host.”

“So we technically can just give it to someone we trust.” Gemma said.

“Wouldn’t Gemma be the only one who can start the spell?” Eva asked.

“Also, we’d need more spell circle powder.” I added.

“I would’ve thought all of that, but it seems not to be true.” Cicily said. “Watch.” She snapped the green flame in her hands to life. She pointed at the ground and fire shot out of her fingers, she drew a green circle on the ground. Quickly, nine fires grew inside the circle, and lines connected them, into an enneagram.

“Is this the Enneagram Spell?” Gemma asked.

“Almost.” Cicily snapped her fingers and a tenth purple flame lit in the center. “Now it’s the Enneagram Spell.”

“What’re all the little symbols around the flames?” Sibyl asked.

“They’re our names, in the order we stood for the original spell. The center one says ‘Huld’.” Everyone nodded, having to take Cicily on her word.

“So any of us could do this?” Ivett asked.

“Yes, but it’s not very useful. Only an empty vessel can take the soul fragment, and we can’t make more Marra. All it really tells us is which of us is still alive.”

“Could I ever learn to make more Marra?” Gemma asked.

“Maybe with years of practice, anyway.” Cicily shrugged. “The best course of action is just to split up for now. An exception I’d like to make is that I will stay with Gemma. Between us, we can probably come up with a better solution to the Huld problem, and maybe find a way we can all meet again.”

“I’d like to stay here.” Eva said.

“Okay then, everyone but Eva, will leave tomorrow morning then." Sibyl said. Everyone nodded.

“Now, we should let Sibyl tell us about her nightmare.” Cicily suggested. Sibyl took to the air above the fire, her eyes glowing Marra green.

“So the boy was walking down the street, lined with victims of the plague, he called out for his mom, but there wasn’t a living person in sight. Then a few of the corpses began moving. He ran as the corpses clambered after him, but I turned the alleys into a maze and soon he was surrounded, the corpses soon were on top of him, and they tore him to pieces as he screamed!” Sibyl laughed as the fire surged into each of our mouths. However we were quickly interrupted by screaming. We turned to the girl strapped to the log, just as a tongue of flame entered her mouth and her eyes turned green, just for a second. Cicily walked up to the girl.

“Change of plans, girls, that spell may have some use after all." Cicily smiled as the girl shuddered.

**Trolberg, Present Day**

“It would’ve been interesting to talk to one of the nightmarish nine." Kelly said.

“I suppose so. I mean, besides the short time I knew Alma.” I replied.

“Well, let’s get back to your story." Kelly said.

“This one is kind of a story in a story." I said.

To Be Continued in Phase Seven: What Lies Below


	7. What Lies Below

Viridescent Shadows II: The Nightmarish Nine

By Daring D.D. Danger  
Phase Seven: What Lies Below

**Trolberg, 1701**

Crash! The fire pit was doused as a Troll ran across it.

“Well, that ruined my story.” Eunice grumbled. Soon, the bells in Trolberg began ringing.

“This is by far the most nights in a row I’ve ever heard the bells ringing." I remarked.

“Please don’t say you are going to go check it out.” Eunice continued to grumble.

“You know me so well.” I replied.

“We’ve only been alone for a few decades.” she sarcastically replied. “You don’t need to constantly involve yourself in other people’s business.”

“I know, but I want to keep up with people, not just be some inhuman thing.”

“You are an inhuman thing, it’s called a Marra.” Eunice continued to grumble. “Go chase your Troll."She finally said. I took to the air and quickly left the Huldrawood. As the bells grew in intensity, I saw hundreds of Trolls outside the wall. As Trolberg grew close, I immediately noticed how many gaps the wall had gotten, just since the day before. Trolls were spilling into town, most debilitated by the bell tower.

“They’re never this organized.” I said to myself. Suddenly I noticed a glimmer, a purple light coming from the area the library was set to be built. I descended upon the area out of sight. A person was standing next to a writhing Troll. I couldn’t tell if they were male or female from this distance. They had Maven’s unmistakable purple hair- maybe this was her grandchild. The Troll roared as the witch wrote notes in their book.

“Die, Marra!” They turned suddenly and launched a belt from a device in their pocket, which I caught before it bound me.

“I will never be trapped by one of these again.” I said in a low voice.

“Fast fingers.” the person said; their voice was also indistinguishable.”I’m too busy for you, anyway, I’m trying to learn to speak Troll.”

“What do you mean ‘speak Troll’? They just make noise.” I said.

“See, I thought that, too, but lately, they’ve been very organized, and they aren’t hurting people, only stealing things.”

“Are you saying they are intelligent?” I asked.

“It seems that way." they said. “I’d like to find out soon. The safety patrol is insisting I use my knowledge of creature hunting to help exterminate them. It would go against my morals to hurt something that is sentient, however.”

“You were going to trap me in a belt and kill me.” I noted.

“You aren’t alive. You are a demon." they replied.

“I have my own thoughts, too, you know.” I replied with a tiny bit of anger.

“Will you leave me alone?” They asked.

“You’re nothing like your grandmother.” I replied.

“What do you know of my family?” They asked, their own anger intensifying.

“Well, I was the Trolberg witch- so, a lot." I was just toying with them at this point.

“Grandma killed that Marra.” they said.

“If you’ve read her books, you know that’s not true. Unless it’s in the one she sealed.” I said.

“How do you know about the forbidden book of dark magic?” They asked.

“I was there when it was still being written.” I replied.

“She… did leave behind something about the Trolberg Witch.” they said.

“Like what?” I asked.

“She told my mother she erased the Marra’s real identity from the minds of the town with magic. Even I don’t know her name, but supposedly speaking the name triggers some sort of spell inside the secret room.”

“Secret room?” I asked.

“I guess I’m done with the Troll.” They left the creature and walked over to the center of the plot of land where the library was to be built. They whispered something and suddenly a large stone slid across the plot, revealing a hole in the ground. I floated into the room behind the witch- it was a carved out, roughly square room, lined with wooden bookshelves and old books.

“So, say your name.” they said angrily.

“I have no name.” I told them

“Say the name of the Trolberg Witch, then.” they demanded.

“...Christabella." I muttered. The room was silent until a book fell off the shelf, glowing purple.

“Wait.” The witch approached the book as it opened by itself. “This is the forbidden tome...” They trailed off.

“I’m a lot of things, but not a liar.” I said. “I did tell Maven I’d live to see this library finished.”

“I know what I need to do.” they said.

“Kill the Trolls with dark magic?” I asked.

“No, you brute. Use the dark magic to communicate with them!” They said.

“How would that work?” I asked.

“There are body swap spells in here.” they said.

“You want to become a Troll?” I asked.

“Not exactly… I think I can control it, by making it a curse instead." they said.

“You’re going to curse yourself?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m going to create a curse that turns someone into a Troll. Then take it myself.” they said.

“That still makes you become a Troll.” I pointed out.

“Not if I take the antidote in time." They suggested.

“Can I watch?” I asked.

“Why?” They asked.

“I want to watch you curse yourself to be a Troll forever.” I said, laughing a bit.

“Sure. Stay, just so I can prove you wrong.” they yelled angrily. They grabbed the book and set it on some sort of work desk, and pulled out some glass instruments and weird things in jars. “Good thing my mother already had essence of Troll in here.” They mumbled.

“You can’t possibly make a curse and an antidote this quickly." I said.

“Sure I can. All the ingredients are already in my mother’s collection.” They explained.

“It took your grandmother a whole night to make the curses I used in the Trolberg attack.” I explained.

“The keyword there is 'curses', as in more than one. I only need one.” they said as a plume of smoke left one of the cups.

“What makes this different than a body swap?” I asked.

“In the easiest terms, a swap would require a live Troll, this uses essence of Troll… which is from a dead Troll.” They said.

“So have you been making curses a long time?” I asked.

“No, I just learned from the book you opened.” They replied.

“How do you know it won’t kill you?” I asked.

“I do not." They replied, chugging the liquid.

“You’re stupid.” I said.

“Probably, but I survived the initial few seconds, so that’s good.” They noted.

“Why do this again?” I asked.

“For science." They replied.

“What do you care about science when you are a witch?” I asked.

“Science is just magic people aren’t afraid of.” They replied before running out of the room. I followed them back to the Troll. The Troll roared at them, then strangely they roared back, in an inhuman voice.

“So, did you understand it?” I mused.

“Yes.” They said.

“What did it say, then?” I asked.

“Ouch.” They replied. I noted the Troll was still reeling as the bells tolled. “We need to stop the bells.” They said.

“You want to stop the bells?” I asked. “During a Troll attack?”

“Yes, that is what I want.” I noticed they were rubbing their temples. “Also, the sound is giving me a headache, too.”

“You want me to do it, don’t you?” I grumbled.

“Please?” They asked.

“Why would I do that?” I asked.

“Don’t you want to see this through for kicks or something?” They suggested.

“Fine. Damn my curiosity.” I took to the air and headed to the main bell tower. The tower was a contraption of pulleys being moved by someone at the bottom of the tower. It had been built while my heart was still beating. Was I really going to break it? I looked at the gears turning and decided they could probably fix them easily. I went into wisp form and entered the gears and reformed, causing them to jam, and a few popped loose. The bell slowed while I dealt with the pain of getting crushed.

Once I could take to the air again I noticed waves of Trolls leaving town, and the witch was riding one of them. I descended and joined them sitting on it’s head.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“The Troll says it considers me a treasure, because I can speak Troll, and that it’s taking me to the castle of the Mountain King.”

“I feel like they aren’t going to be able to do that by morning,” I noted.

“The Troll says we will be there by sunup. Which is good, because my arm is a Troll arm now.” The witch held up their right arm, made of stone.

“How long until you become a Troll?” I asked, realizing I was actually a little concerned.

“Tomorrow at midnight." they said.

“Why is it always midnight?” I asked.

“No idea, you’d have to talk to early dark magic users, like Huld.”

“I’d rather not talk to Huld.” I noted.

“Why not? She’s considered the creator of dark magic." They said.

“She created the Marra.” I noted.

“Really!? That’s amazing!” They screamed as we passed the edge of Trolberg.

“It’s something.” I grumbled. “This is going to take a while. What is your name?” I asked.

“Jena.” They answered.

“Are you a boy or a girl?” I asked.

“I am not either.” They said.

“How is that possible?” I asked.

“I think it’s silly to define someone’s roles based on their biology. So I don’t participate.” They said.

“Well, what were you born as?” I asked.

“You’ll never know.” Jena laughed.

“Fine. Well, how did you end up in a position to communicate with Trolls?” I asked.

“My mother, and my older sister. They insist that I carry on the family legacy of using witchcraft to help people. Maybe I’m too young to understand at eighteen, but to me helping the Trolls now seems synonymous with helping the people.”

“I think you are a basket case.” I said.

“Yet, you’re here." Jena mused.

“I’m just bored.” I replied.

“Nothing beats leveling half of Trolberg, I guess.”

“I did that to stop the witch hunts.” I said in a low voice.

“Aww, a Marra with a petrified heart of gold." Jena said in a mocking tone.

“Shut up." I said.

“What were you like before you died?” Jena asked.

“A girl. I went to school, had a friend named Mirabel who I cared a lot about.”

“Is Mirabel a Marra now?” Jena leaned in.

“No, she died in the witch hunts. I miss her.” I said.

“There’s that heart of gold again.” Jena laughed.

“Why am I telling you this anyway!?” I crossed my arms.

“I’ve been told I do that to people.” Jena said. “Did you love her?”

“I don’t believe in love.” I said. “You can’t love without getting hurt, if you can never die.”

“You can die.” Jena pointed out.

“I’m not dying anytime soon. I want to see if humanity redeems itself and actually can grow from where it was at when I was alive.”

“That’s a noble goal, and a huge burden. I respect you for it though.” Jena laid on their back. “Do the stars look the same as they did when you were alive?”

“I never cared much for stargazing.” I said. Suddenly a hand pulled me down onto my back.

“Start now, then." Jena said.

“Are you going to tell me about constellations?” I asked.

“No, constellations are just lines people drew, I just like the idea of how far away the stars really are. Have you ever used a telescope?” Jena looked at me.

“No. I was a peasant girl in a little village.” I said.

“Well, it makes me think about how small we are.”

“Why do you like that idea?” I said.

“I don’t know if I can explain it, but it fascinates me.” Jena said. I looked at the sky in silence as the Trolls pressed on.

It was hard to say how much time had passed when the Trolls began filing into a cave system. Trolberg was just over a hill, probably visible if the sun were up.

“Is this like a Troll nest?” I asked.

“Let me check.” As Jena talked to the Troll I noticed both of their hands were stone now. “It says this is the Stone Forest. It’s where the Trolls who used to live in Trolberg live now.” The Stone Forest was bustling with Trolls, naturally. I didn’t understand a word of the Troll language, so I watched Jena roar and wave at the Trolls, smiling the entire time. I suppose I was smiling with them.

Eventually the Trolls filed into a large room and began dumping their treasures onto a large hoard.

“This must be the castle of the Mountain King.” I said.

“Yeah, I think so, too. Look.” Jena pointed up and I realized there was an enormous Troll sitting at the end of the room, with a large red eye. The large Troll pointed down at the Troll we were riding and spoke something to it.

“He’s asking about us.” Jena whispered. It quickly became clear the Trolls were arguing. “I think he said to put us in the dungeon.” As soon as the words were said something struck me in my head.

I woke up and rubbed my head. “I’ve been shot and fallen from buildings without an injury but I can still be knocked out? Figures.” I mumbled to myself as I realized I was inside a stone room with no obvious exit. I guess the Trolls didn’t know I was a Marra. I wisped through a gap in the stone and reformed on the roof of the main hallway. I turned my head 180 degrees and saw there were many cells blocked by large stones, and one way out of the hallway, with a guard.

I began crawling along, trying to guess where Jena was when I heard a slam. I looked in the direction of the sound and noticed the guard was on the ground. Two Trolls and a larger bearded Troll filed into the hall and stopped by one of the cells. The two regular Trolls began pushing the rock clear and Jena stepped out, except they no longer looked human. They had no skin remaining, only the stone of a Troll. Their eyes were now hollow, and their nose long. I crawled over and let myself float down to the ground. As they noticed me the bearded Troll talked to Jena.

“He’s trying to help us.” Jena’s voice sounded as if their throat was being crushed. I obviously made a face because their facial expression changed.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to speak human language much longer.” They said.

“How long before you are a Troll forever?” Jena talked to the bearded Troll.

“Not long.”

“Take the antidote.” I demanded.

“I can’t, the Mountain King took all my things." They shrugged.

“Then I’ll get it back.” I could feel my eyes involuntarily turn green for a second.

“Wait. Listen. These guys want your help.” Jena said.

“My help with what?” I asked impatiently.

“They want to defeat the Mountain King.”

“Why? It seems like the Trolls like their king.” Jena talked with the Trolls some more.

“A large group of them don’t, they say he’s trying to destroy Trolberg and they don’t want to.”

“Well, I can’t let them kill the humans.” I grumbled. “Fine.”

“Okay, the plan is to level his castle.” Jena explained.

“That’s a bit over the top." I noted.

“...With him inside of it.Then they are going to cut his eye out." Jena finished.

“I changed my mind. I like it." I grinned. “Did they just come up with this plan on the fly?” Jena talked to the Troll.

“They decided to move it up a few days because of us.” Jena said with determination.

“I was hoping for more Trolls.” I whispered as the group hid outside of the castle. There were about twenty Trolls, plus the bearded one. The bearded Troll entered the room and began roaring at the Mountain King.

“He’s trying to talk the Mountain King into surrendering.” Jena whispered.

“Is it working?”

“No.” Suddenly the bearded Troll roared and the Trolls stormed the room, Jena and I quickly followed. The Mountain King slammed his fist to the ground, knocking most of the Trolls off balance and sending some of his hoard into the air. He then dropped his other hand, crushing several of the Trolls into the ground. The few that remained were unloading punches on the columns holding the enormous throne room up- even Jena joined, their strength now clearly on par with the other Trolls. I went to the air and flew at the King’s eye, but he swatted me to the ground like a fly. I landed with a crash and began to see stars.

I came too as the King swatted a few Trolls to the side, one broke through the outer wall, letting in the cold night air and faint moonlight. Suddenly I heard a crash as a column fell to my left. The Mountain King reached down and grabbed several Trolls, throwing them out of the wall where the first Troll had gone through. I heard splashing a few seconds after. There must’ve been a drop on the other side of that wall. I stood up and forced my blades out. I ran to the right and began slicing the columns like a pair of scissors. The King began attempting to crush me, but I managed to dodge in wisp form. As I reached the last column, the bearded Troll ran headfirst into the weakened columns, bursting through each as if it didn’t hurt at all. The weakened room started shaking and cracks appeared in the ceiling. I turned to a wisp and flew out of the room. A few Trolls followed before the crash and ensuing cloud of dust from the collapse came.

I looked back to see a few Trolls digging out of the ruins, and the mountain king was crushed, and totally still, only his head and one arm visible.

“Nice job.” A dust-covered Jena said from behind me.

“Thank you.” I said.

“Now, all we need to do is find my antidote in that mess.”

“Shit!” I had forgotten about it and sprinted back into the room. Jena roared behind me and the remaining Trolls began digging as well. Suddenly a low rumble filled the room as the Mountain King roared and swung his free hand. Rubble flew across the room and off of the cliff side. As the dust settled I heard Jena screaming which was only silenced by the rubble splashing into the water below.

“What have you done?!” I yelled as I jumped over to the Mountain King with fire in my eyes, I drew my blades and stabbed them right into the Troll’s eye. The King roared in agony as I torqued my arms. I was thrown from the King’s head, and his eye rolled across the ground. A Troll suddenly walked up behind me, with the tattered remains of Jena’s bag. I ripped it out of the Troll’s hands and found a small tube of white liquid labeled ‘antidote’. I took it and flew out over the ravine. Even in the moonlight I couldn’t see anything moving near the water. Did Trolls sink in water? That was a terrifying thought. I popped the top of the antidote and sucked the liquid into my mouth, before diving towards the water.

I hit with a splash and began swimming down, kicking as hard as I could. I pulled out my arm blades to try and light the water a little, and I began finding rubble of the castle and Trolls angrily wading through the water, presumably walking to the surface. I finally stumbled on Jena, still wearing their human clothes, not moving. I put my arms around their head, and put my mouth to theirs, forcing the antidote into their mouth. I sat on top of them as we both laid motionless on the lake bed, and I laid down on them as I lost hope. Suddenly we began floating up. I looked to see they had returned to their human form, and I took their body over my shoulder and began kicking up, away from the bottom and towards the faint glow of the moon. We crested the surface and I immediately took to the air, carrying Jena back to the ruins of the castle.

I laid their body on the stone floor, but they remained lifeless. I slapped their face, not knowing what else to do. They shot up and began coughing. Satisfied I looked up at the carnage. Trolls were digging the Mountain King out of the rubble. The bearded Troll was carrying the eye and brought it over to us. He roared at Jena.

“What do you mean ‘a vision’?” They said, standing up.

“Wait, you can still speak Troll?” I asked.

“Huh, I guess so.” Jena shrugged. They reached out and touched the eye. “Wow. He wasn’t kidding. I just had this vision of a huge Troll wiping Trolberg off the face of the Earth. Touch it, Christabella.” They gestured at the red orb. I reached out and put a hand on it. Suddenly I was in the Huldrawood, surrounded by Marra I didn’t know, and a shadowy creature. It was saying something I couldn’t understand and then It sprinted forward and forced it’s hand through my chest. It pulled it’s hand out of my chest and everything went black. I snapped back to reality and took my hand off the orb.

“Did you see the big Troll?” Jena asked.

“Y… yeah.” I lied.

“Thank you for saving my life, by the way.” Jena said.

“Don’t mention it.” I told them.

“You still have a heart of gold.” Jena said as they walked up and pulled me into a hug. Then they moved one of their hands behind my head and kissed me.

“What was that for?!” I asked, almost lost for words.

“It felt right.” Jena said. “Plus, I found out something new for my notes on Marra.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Marra can blush even though they have no pulse.” they laughed.

“Shut up!” I yelled.

**Trolberg, Present Day**

“Wait. Did you end up dating them?” Kelly asked me.

“Hard to explain.” I replied.

“So does this mean Trolls have something to do with the Enneagram Spell not working?”

“No, actually, I just needed to mention the book. I guess I went on a tangent with the Troll story." I noted.

“It’s because you loved Jena!” Kelly said mockingly.

“If you tell anyone I’ll end your afterlife.” I growled.

“Why didn’t you make them a Marra?” Kelly inquired.

“Jena didn’t want to live forever. We spent a lot of days together though. They were very captivating, and I loved their passion and borderline insanity. They got sick and died a few years before I met Patience.”

“I’m sorry." Kelly said.

“Loving someone when you are immortal is foolish.” I replied.

“You could’ve just stopped consuming fear, then you wouldn’t have been immortal.” Kelly pointed out.

“I’ll tell you what I tell everyone. I want to see if humanity can improve." I said.

“Well, what about that weird vision?” Kelly pressed.

“I haven’t thought about that in a long time. It’s a bit foggy now. The location was our Huldrawood though. I suppose the amount of Marra in our group matches the amount in that vision.”

“Doesn’t that worry you?”

“That Troll thing Jena saw never happened, so I take it with a grain of salt.”

“What ended up happening to the Mountain King?”

“Not sure, I presume they executed him.” I said with a shrug. “Anyway, on with the story."

To Be Continued In Phase Eight: The Forbidden Book


	8. The Forbidden Book

Viridescent Shadows II: The Nightmarish Nine

By Daring D.D. Danger  
Phase Eight: The Forbidden Book

**Trolberg, Present Day**

“So what did Maven’s book have to do with there only being 3 flames in the Enneagram Spell?” Kelly inquired.

“I didn’t actually know it had anything to do with it, at first." I noted.

**Trolberg, 1929**

Another gathering of the Trolberg Marra, around the fire pit in the Huldrawood, but this time during the day.

“Sorry for gathering you all during the day.” I said to the four grouchy Marra sitting around the unlit fire.

“Something bad might be happening, and I’m forced to tell you all a few things about the Marra.” I went into telling the girls about Huld, the Nightmarish Nine, and the Enneagram Spell.

“So what’s the bad news, then?” Lucia asked. I stood up and drew out the Enneagram on the ground. To even my shock, only two of the exterior fires lit this time- the large unintelligible one, and ‘Alma’.

“What does that mean?” Renata asked.

“I think it means the other Primes have died.” I said.

“Not really... If what you said is true, the biggest flame should be the ‘Huld’ one.” Renata noted.

“Maybe you should ask a witch.” Patience suggested.

“My life has had far too many witches in it.” I said, laced with sarcasm. “We wait for night, then go into the secret room and read up on our magic."

“There’s a secret room in the library?” Omelia asked.

“A little bird told me about it a few hundred years ago." I replied.

Darkness filled the streets of Trolberg around the library as we set upon its doors. Omelia reached the door first as the rest of us remained in the shadows.She peered through the lock and gave a hand signal that looked like a bird.

“What does that mean?” Renata whisper-yelled.

“The bird has flown the coop!” Omelia whispered back.

“What does that mean!?” Renata was no longer whispering.

“No librarian!” Omelia said back. We entered through the lock one by one and I led the girls to the back of the library, where a bookcase was shoved aside, revealing a staircase. As we walked over slowly, I suddenly heard a slam. I looked over to see Omelia had fallen on her face just as two people crested the stairs, A short purple haired woman with glasses, and a blue haired man with a magnificent beard.

“Library’s closed, girls.” the woman said.

“I need it.” I said.

“No, I’m working on something with my colleague.” she said, standing her ground. I put on my angriest Marra face and drew my blades.

“I need it.” I said in a low voice.

“Marra!” The girl whispered as she took cover behind her friend.

“There’s no need to fight. What do you want, nightmare spirits?” The man said.

“I’m looking for information about a spell.” I said.

“What kind of spell?” He asked.

“I’m actually not sure...” I realized.

“How aren’t you sure?” He was confused.

“It was taught to me very quickly by someone who was dying.” I noted.

“Okay. Well, tell me about it.” he said, acting very calm.

“So, I carry a fragment of the soul of a witch named Huld.” I said.

“Like the creator of dark magic?” The girl asked.

“I’m not very informed on who Huld was.” I noted. “When I die, I am supposed to use this spell to transfer the soul fragment to another Marra so it does not reunite with the others.”

“So why do you need the library?” He pressed.

“Something is wrong with the spell. I can create fire with my hands." I snapped my fingers and my thumb lit up. “Then I draw a little circle and 9 fires ignite and connect, making an enneagram. The nine fires represent the nine Marra who killed Huld and the fragments they carry. Then, a tenth lights in the middle, showing Huld’s power.”

“That’s interesting. It doesn’t really sound like a spell. It almost seems like the echo of one, so to speak.” the girl finally chimed in.

“What’s wrong with it?” The man asked.

“I should show you.” I drew the circle, and the two green flames came alight, followed by me snapping the ‘Huld’ flame alight.

“Well, I see the problem.” the man noted.

“Who’s ‘Alma’?” The woman asked.

“Oh, you can actually read that?” I was shocked.

“Yes, the text is in the same script many old magical tomes are written in." she noted.

“Alma was the Marra who originally obtained my soul fragment. The other flames would normally have the other eight names on it.”

“Maybe the other soul keepers have died." she suggested.

“No, then their power would’ve gone to the center flame. It almost looks like one vessel has all eight of the other fragments.” the man suggested.

“That would be bad. That vessel would likely have almost no self control left, they’d be most of the way taken over by Huld.” The woman added.

“Why would anyone do that?” The man pondered.

“For power.” I said.

“You think so?” The woman was taken aback.

“Maybe it started out as power lust, then after they had most of Huld’s soul they just lost control?” The man questioned.

“There were still 3 flames only a few days ago.” I noted.

“Then they are coming for yours, probably.” the man said grimly.

“What happens if they get it?” Omelia asked.

“If everything you’ve told us is true? Huld would take them over.” the man said.

“That can’t happen.” I said sternly.

“It’s not our problem.” The woman said.

“Well, no, but it sounds like a lot went in to making sure Huld stayed dead, I don’t know if I want to be the one to do nothing, and caused her to return.” The man noted.

“Fine, we’ll help them.” The woman said angrily.

“I’m Owen.” he said. Then, the girl introduced herself.

“I’m Myra." she stated.

“What about you?” Owen pointed at me.

“I don’t have a name.” I said.

“Okay, then. I’ll just call you Pigtail.” Owen shrugged. “Let’s assume we don’t have much time. What are we going to do?”

“Let’s destroy Huld’s soul." Myra suggested.

“We’d need dark magic for that, and there’s only one dark magic tome in the whole library- the Forbidden Tome.”

“True... We have no way to open that book.” Myra grumbled.

“Yes, we do.” I said.

“What do you mean?” Owen asked.

“I was there when the book was sealed.” I explained. Myra ran down into the secret room and returned with a now very aged book, the one Maven had used many years before. “A past librarian I was very familiar with changed how this book opened. Put your hand on it.” I said to Owen, which he complied to. I then put my hand next to his, and as we pulled our hands off the book flew open.

“It takes a witch and a Marra to open it? Strange,” Myra noted.

“The librarian who changed it had a bit of an unusual relationship with the Marra." I smiled.

To Be Concluded in Phase Nine: A Tale Of Two Primes


	9. A Tale Of Two Primes

Viridescent Shadows II: The Nightmarish Nine

By Daring D.D. Danger  
Phase Nine: A Tale Of Two Primes

**Trolberg, 1929**

Several quiet nights had now passed since the plan to destroy Huld for good was finalized. When the vessel shows up to kill me, we lead her to an open field outside of the Huldrawood, but still away from Trolberg, where a large spell circle has been prepped. Myra and Owen will do the spell, the five of us just have to keep the vessel inside of the spell circle. That was the plan, anyway.

The Huldrawood was damp from a day of cold and rain. I sat by the burning fire trying to dry the logs off before the other girls showed up.

“All alone out here?” A voice I didn’t recognize came from behind me. I looked up to see a Marra floating down. She had dark hair and wore extremely baggy clothes. She was chewing some sort of hay.

“Who are you?” I asked, already on the defensive.

“Just a fellow Marra, drifting across Europe.” she replied. “I saw your fire and decided to drop in.”

“Now isn’t the best time to be visiting here.” I said.

“That’s a shame. You know, you remind me of an old friend." she said.

“Really? I don’t think we’ve met.” I told her.

“You sure? Because you really remind me of her. Her name was Alma.” the girl smiled. She raised a hand and immediately pulled a leather belt from the other. I jumped back, only to hit some sort of barrier and fall. Before I knew it, the belt was around me.

“What Marra puts her fellow Marra in a leather belt?” I yelled, my face half in the mud.

“I just want something. The last seven Marra refused at first, but I only had to kill one. Killing Cicily was hard for me, too. So, if you want to live, just give me what I want.” The girl began drawing the Enneagram Spell around us.

“I know for a fact the person giving the soul fragment has to choose. I would prefer to keep mine.” I said.

“I know you have to choose. That’s what the belt is for."she said as she pulled out a knife from her pocket. “When you are bound like that, you can’t use your powers, you are mortal, you don’t heal quickly, and you feel more pain. Most of the others gave in after about ten minutes. Shame the breath that passed Cicily’s fragment on was her last. She made it a whole hour too.” She knelt over and put the tip of the knife against the back of my neck.

“Never,” I said, gritting my teeth.

“We’ll see. I’d like to know your name.” she said.

“Don’t have one.” I said angrily.

“Alright. Fine, then. You can call me Eva.” She stomped my head into the mud, forcing dirt down my throat. As the pressure lifted, I turned my head and vomited up the mud.

“You’re one of the Nightmarish Nine. Why would you want to reunite Huld’s soul?!” I yelled.

“I’m going to use the power for good.” Eva said as she put a foot on my lower back and leaned down so her head was next to mine. “Is that a good enough reason to give me Alma’s soul fragment?”

“No!” I said. She grabbed the back of my shirt and lifted so the collar was crushing my throat, until it finally ripped. The cold wet air hit my bare back.

“Do you want to know something interesting I’ve figured out over the years?” Eva said. I did not respond.

“When you want to scare someone, a dull knife is better than a sharp one. Sure, a sharp knife would be easier on me, but a dull knife hurts you more.” She started running the knife along my back. I put my face into the mud and began screaming into the ground. I ran out of breath and began hacking in place of screaming. She stopped and I took a breath, tears running down my cheeks. No sooner did she resume, I screamed into the dirt again. The process repeated a third time, and by then I was bawling between each cut.

“Nice job. You didn’t give me your name so I hope you don’t mind me writing mine.” She slapped my back and I growled through the pain. “Ready to give up yet?”

“You won’t do any good with those powers.” I said.

“Sure I will. Humanity has done nothing but beat people down my entire life. So I’m finally doing something about it. I’m making all the bad people go away.” she whispered in my ear. Before she could move I whipped my head back and smashed her face.

“Brat!” She stomped down on my leg and as I heard the snap I screamed into the Huldrawood, a sound that didn’t even sound human. Everything began to feel hazy as I heard the sound of metal smashing.

“Boss!” I heard Patience’s voice as someone began removing the belt. As it fell free my pain subsided. I got up on my good foot and held the broken leg out to Patience.

“Pull.” I said. She grabbed my foot and pulled it straight with a sickly snap.

“Good thing you told us Marra can be knocked out.” Lucia gestured to Eva using a pan she’d clearly hit her with.

“Good thing I was going to make everyone food.” Omelia said, grabbing the pan from Lucia.

“Where’s Renata?” I asked.

“Getting the witches.” Omelia replied.

“Let’s beat them to the clearing, then.” I said as I took to the sky.

The trees gave way to a verdant green clearing. Owen was waving at us as we flew in.

“Darn, they beat us.” Omelia noted. My feet hit the grass with a decisive and slightly wet thud. My shirt kept sliding off of my shoulders revealing the scar of Eva’s name to the cold air. Renata came up and threw her jacket at me, which I immediately replaced my shirt with.

“You look like shit." Myra noted.

“I’ll be fine,” I grumbled. All of us were suddenly taken off guard by the sound of a tree falling.

“Now or never.” Lucia stated with confidence. The four Marra I’d spent decades with took their places at my side as the witches hid.

“I can handle her alone.” I said.

“I never back down from a fight.” Lucia said, shaking out her hands.

“To the death!” Omelia shouted with one hand to the sky.

“Alright, then.” I pulled out my arm blades and we waited. The silence was broken by the sound of rain pattering to the ground.

Suddenly, Eva broke into the clearing by forcing two trees to either side. She had grown two extra arms, glowing in Marra green.

“Is that like your blades?” Patience asked.

“I suppose, maybe the other Primes had different abilities?” I guessed.

“Wouldn’t that mean she has all of the other eight?” Omelia pointed out.

“Shit.” I grumbled. Eva recalled her extra arms and put her others out, so she was standing like a letter T. She began to walk forward slowly towards us. From behind her one of the witches lit the spell ring, which began spreading a wall of flame around us.

“So, you had a plan all along." Eva laughed. “Good luck keeping me in the circle long enough.” Eva’s veins started glowing green and she noticeably grew in size.

“Let’s go.” I said. The five of us leaped forward and simultaneously toppled Eva, each of the girls pinning a limb. I hovered over her, my blade inches from her face. The witches entered and Myra began chanting, her hair glowing purple and flowing as if she were underwater.

“I’m not losing.” I said to Eva.

“Actually, you are.” She arched her head and bit my blade, shattering it into glowing ash with just her jaw strength. She suddenly ripped her left arm free sending Renata flying like a cannon shot. The other girls panicked and released her. Eva grabbed me, her fist now large enough to hold my entire body.

“Know your place!” She threw me and I skidded along the ground. I looked up as electricity gathered on her arms and shot at Myra, only to be redirected by Owen, magical light now emanating from him as well. “Fine.” Eva went into a full on sprint, breaking right past Owen and punching Myra so hard she flew and punched a hole through the wall of fire.

“That girl is dead, right?” Lucia whispered. I signaled to the girls and we all flew between Eva and the edge of the spell circle. Eva cracked her neck and waved her arm. Eight pointed blades appeared and floated around her. She pointed her finger at us and the blades flew. I ducked out of the way and looked back to see all eight had penetrated Patience and pinned her to the ground. Black ooze spewed from her body onto the ground. Lucia was pulling the blades out as Patience tried to break them.

“Let me help.” Eva ran up to Patience, picking her up, blades and all. Eva inhaled and green light passed from Patience’s face and into Eva’s mouth. She then threw Patience to the ground, as she faded to a pile of ash.

“Patience!” Lucia began sifting through her friend's ashes. All fell silent except for the sound of rain, the crackle of the fire, and Lucia’s devastated weeps.

“Prime. No one else has to die. Give me Huld’s soul fragment.” Eva held a palm out to me. Lucia floated up into Eva’s face.

“What are you going to do, little Marra?” Eva gave an evil smile. Lucia suddenly plunged her knife into Eva’s eye. Eva screamed and stepped back.

“Myra’s not coming back! Do the spell, Owen!” I yelled. Owen shifted gears and began chanting the spell. I charged forward with Renata and Omelia and plunged my left blade into Eva’s good eye. The twins were unloading punches on her as she fell to the ground.

Eva created her extra set of arms and grabbed Renata and Omelia before using her own to push me away. She held Renata up to her face and sucked the life from her before blowing her ashes into Omelia’s face, and draining her as well. She charged up a lightning blast and hit Owen square on, knocking him to the ground. She jumped and grabbed Lucia, who was frozen in shock and pinned her to the ground, punching her with the other three arms until there was a crater. She then leapt towards me. I backed away, until I was pinned with the fire wall behind me. She pinned me to the ground with one of her hands and I coughed up some black fluid, which I spat into the fire. The light behind me suddenly began turning an ethereal green. Eva froze and I turned my head to watch as the fire began shifting to green from where I’d spat. It traversed around the entire circle quickly and suddenly a blaze erupted from below us, prompting Eva to jump back towards the center of the circle

I jumped clear to see other fires erupting in the circle. Two new lines of flame shot from the fire closest to me out into the ring. The Enneagram Spell. I counted the fires, there were eight. As I watched something sprung from the fire closest to me. A figure of a girl, clad in green flame.

“Nice to see you again, Christabella.” The voice unmistakably belonged to Alma. Soon, other figures grew from the flames and they all approached Eva.

“What is wrong with you?” One of the girls asked.

“What do you know, Sibyl!?” Eva yelled.

“I know you killed me out of greed.” a small girl said.

“Did you lose yourself after all these years?” Alma asked.

“You became everything we fought to destroy.” One of the girls said. They piled on to Eva and she became engulfed in flame, the ninth fire in the spell.

“The eight fragments of Huld you hold cannot be separated again.” the small girl said. I walked up behind them to see that Eva was slowly being destroyed.

“I was just trying to do good." Eva said.

“You never once did good.” Alma spat in the girl's face.

“You can’t all think that!” Eva was pleading. The girl scoffed at her.

“Even you, Alice?”

“I always liked you, Eva.” one of the girls said. “Maybe I was never good, but I also never stabbed my sisters in the back.”

“It’s time to go, Eva.” Sibyl said as Eva became consumed by the fire, and finally fell lifeless onto the ground. “It’s a shame it came to this.”

Eva’s body erupted in purple smoke, which raced to the heavens and dissipated before she crumbled to ash.

“That was the other eight soul fragments, wasn’t it?” I said in awe.

“I’m afraid so.” The little girl walked up to me.

“You are now the only thing preventing Huld from returning to this world,” Sibyl said.

“I’m so proud of you, Christabella." Alma smiled at me. Most of the girls had turned to look at Trolberg now.

“It’s so bright.” one of them remarked.

“It’s a new world. One we don’t belong in.” Sibyl remarked. I suddenly realized something.

“Wait! There’s only seven of you!” I pointed.

“She’s right, where’s Gemma?” Sibyl asked.

“She’s still alive.” the small girl said.

“How’s that possible?” I asked.

“You can pass the soul fragment without dying. She did it hundreds of years ago.” the small girl giggled.

“It would’ve been nice to see her again while we were together." the one Eva called Alice remarked. Alma walked over to me.

“Girls, come meet my friend!” Alma yelled. She pointed at Sibyl. “You already know her.” It’s unclear what color, but Sibyl had curly hair when she was alive, and wore gloves for some reason. Alma pointed at the small girl.

“I’m Cicily!" the small girl announced excitedly.

“Alice.” Alice had a very lax look, and very long hair.

“The tall one is Estrid, the one with one eye is Beatrice, and the quiet one is Ivett.” Alma pointed at the last three girls, who waved back at me.

“It’s time to go, girls.” Sibyl said. Suddenly the fire wall died down, and the girls began fading until only Sibyl remained. “I’m sorry for the burden we’ve placed on you. Also, if you ever meet Gemma, tell her we said hi.” Sibyl put her arm on my shoulder, which phased through as she disappeared.

**Trolberg, Present Day**

“What!? That didn’t really happen.” Kelly said in disbelief.

“I can prove it.” I turned my back to her and lifted my shirt, revealing the Eva scar.

“So what happened after?” Kelly asked.

“Lucia survived, but was only around another few months after. She was never quite the same. Myra had to use a cane to walk the rest of her life, but was otherwise fine. Owen left Trolberg soon after. Myra told me he decided to live in the wilderness.” I explained.

“Does the Enneagram Spell still work?”

“Sure.” I drew the circle in the snow, which populated with only the ‘Alma’ flame. I snapped and brought the ‘Huld’ flame to life, which roared large over the smaller green flame. “I guess that’s my story." I said. “Can I stay at your house? This storm is ridiculous." I gestured to all the snow that was falling.

The End

To Be Continued in:

Viridescent Shadows: Gemma Chronicles

and

Remorse Of An Adventurer II: Never Ending Nightmare


End file.
